A Sanders presidency would be revolutionary - a yuuge break from the stranglehold corporations have on our government. Those are but a few reasons why I#FeeltheBern.

Recently, however, there’s been a backlash as many Sanders fans express the sentiment that, should Clinton become the nominee, they will not vote for her — a fourth of Sanders supporters according to the latest poll. For them, it’s#BernieorBust — and they’ve gotten some flack as a result. Many Clinton supporters find this hypocritical, saying “We’ll vote for your candidate, but you won’t vote for ours? You will give the election to Trump. That’s f*cked up.” A paraphrased sentiment (no shade).

But before condemning the “defectors,” it’s worth investigating why.

For one, not all Sanders supporters are Democrats and feel no loyalty to the party; Sanders does especially well with independent voters who make up the largest voting bloc in America. Additionally, there are real moral dilemmas one must consider when pulling the lever for Clinton. In 2007, I was all about Hillary. Now, as I’ve learned more about her, I’m not sure that I would be able to vote for her in good conscience. And while a Trump vs. Clinton showdown is a very different and very serious moral quandary (please note: #NeverTrump), it would not be a guilt-free decision for me. For so many elections we’ve been forced to vote for the lesser of two evils that it feels incredibly dirty to give away my vote out of fear. To feel coerced into voting for a hoped-to-be ordained candidate when the DNC,establishment (which is all too real), and corporate media blackout have not given Sanders equal air time or a fair shot. See: here, here, here, here, here, here, here,here, here, here, here, and here as but a few examples from a pool of the many ways the media has undermined and undercut his campaign (it’s also worth reading a bit about how the media manufactures consent). I, for one, refuse to be bullied into voting for a candidate because those in power wanted a coronation ceremony. That is not a democracy and my choice will not be predetermined for me (FYI our democracy has now been proven to be an oligarchy). A vote for the preordained candidate is a vote that enables this system to continue. It only feeds the illusion of choice, which is why it weighs so heavily on my heart.

In search of finding common understanding, I’d like to ask Clinton supporters a few honest questions. For me, as I’ve examined the evidence and asked myself the same, the number of issues surrounding Clinton that I must deny, justify, or rationalize is just too great. To some of these questions, I’ve heard people answer, “She’s a career politician. What do you expect?” I’d ask: Why not expect more from our politicians? Why not progress us forward to a new possibility? For others, there’s the Machiavellian argument for Clinton: that in order to game the system, you must play within the system - and she’s done just that. And perhaps she would be the best to continue the existing politics-as-usual system. But that system is no longer serving the people’s interests. And the country is waking up. We are the richest country that has ever existed in the history of the world who spends an astronomical amount of money on wars and military spending and yet income inequality is worse than it’s ever been since the Great Depression. We currently have a once-in-a-lifetime Presidential candidate who is calling for real changes - not small, incremental progress. A candidate who is calling us to stand together and say “Enough is enough!“

Consider that we never got the full picture. Consider that, due to the accessibility of information that’s now available to us, previously obscured facts can now be found with relative ease - with a bit of #HillaryResearch. Consider that not every attack on Clinton’s record is coming from the right-wing or is due to her being a woman, but may actually be rooted in reality. Consider that we’ve been sold a public personality - one that’s managed by strategists and public relations masters. Consider that the U.S. ranks 49th in the world in terms of freedom of press, that our media “options” are limited (Time Warner, CNN’s parent company, is the 8th largest contributor to Clinton’s campaign), and that they have their own agenda (see: $$). Consider that, when Clinton’s record is viewed as a whole, there’s a consistent narrative that can be understood.

We must ask ourselves: at what point are we willing to let go of the image we’ve been sold and instead look at valid criticisms? What does it say about our society when we’re more loyal to a party that’s been sold to corporate interests than we are towards our own human interests?

Consider too that all of the following questions can be raised by a Republican opponent in the general election come November. Consider that these are but a few reasons why many voters are calling for #BernieorBust. (I come bearing hyperlinks. Click them.)

1. International Money Ties
Money influences policy and politics, which is a fact. Another fact: the Clinton’s have created a massive $3 billion fundraising network. But if Hillary Clinton isn’t as influenced by money as she claims, how do you explain the weapons deals brokered by Clinton’s state department with foreign countries who made donationsto the Clinton Foundation? Many of these countries include the world’s worst tyrants with abysmal human rights records and are known to fund terrorism, execute gays, and discriminate against women and religious minorities. Perhaps this is how the system has worked, but how would we react if a Republican in office did the same?

2. Wall St.
During the second debate, when Sanders pressed Clinton on her ties to the finance industry, Clinton said she went to Wall St. and told them to “cut it out”. She also bizarrely cited 9/11. But how are we to rectify this account when her approach was largely “hands off” as the Boston Globe put it? This only makes us wonder: who is she really representing? What are we to make of the Clinton’s being so close to the banks?

3. The Transcripts
Clinton made a total of $2.9 million from 12 speaking engagements to financial institutions upon leaving as Secretary of State - the most out of every candidate. Sanders called for her to release the speech transcripts (as did the New York Times) demanding that the public should have a right to know the contents, especially if we are to trust she will break up the big banks. First Clinton said she would look into it. Then she said that she would release them when everybody releases them. Some believe it’s a double standard to ask her to share them with the public. But in this moment, she’s running against Sanders for the nomination. How do we justify Clinton’s reluctance to release the transcripts? If her ties to Wall St. have no bearing on how she will regulate the banks then what is she hiding? Last year, the Clinton Foundation also reported that it received as much as $26.4 million in previously undisclosed payments from major corporations, universities, foreign sources and other groups for speeches that were tallied as revenue rather than donations.

4. Campaign Finance
In 2008, after winning the Democratic nomination, Obama announced a DNC ban on accepting unlimited donations from lobbyists and Super PACs, stating:

“We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. We’re going to change how Washington works. They will not fund my party. They will not run our White House. And they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I’m president of the United States of America.”

Additionally, her latest incident at Nancy Reagan’s funeral where she praised Reagan’s “low-key advocacy” for HIV/AIDS awareness, an inaccurate and offensive statement, triggered painful memories. It was quite the opposite of the truth in fact -“a f*cking lie” as columnist Dan Savage called it. Clinton chose to bring this up in the interview herself, but later apologized when she was met with outrage and accusations of revisionist undertones. How many times will we continue to apologize for her? “Well, but people make mistakes...it was just a slip. She was tired,” we bargain. But for many, it’s more than just a mistake. What it demonstrates is a detachment from real social justice issues that Americans face - or historical facts for that matter. As a “progressive”, why wasn’t she better informed? In each of these instances, she had a chance to stand up for what’s right, but failed to do so.

9. Foreign Policy
Many cite Clinton’s experience as Secretary of State as one of her greatest strengths. But when we examine her record, Clinton took strong interventionist stances that had disastrous and catastrophic consequences. Her decision to support the coup in Honduras has left the country with widespread violence as well as a regime that murders indigenous leaders. Environmental activist Bera Cáceres, who was assassinated in her home this month, had previously called out Clinton on her decision to back the overthrow. Similarly, during the Arab Spring, Clinton’s push to topple dictator Muammar Qaddafi has left a political vacuum as extremists battle it out in the war-torn country. Then there’s Syria too. To tell voters to support a candidate whose decisions have caused thousands of lives lost, unnecessary violence and chaos, and displaced millions of refugees is, quite frankly, rude. How can you ask us to support a candidate who has taken such aggressive action and caused so much bloodshed? How can we know that Clinton will not lead us into endless wars? She recently gave a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention (AIPAC) which confirmed many people’s fears of her imperialist approach. You can judge the transcript.

14. Flint and the 2005 Groundwater Vote
Just before the debate in Flint, Michigan, Clinton finally called for the resignation of Governor Snyder - something Sanders had done previously. But despite the rhetoric to bring immediate action and hold officials accountable, how do you resolve the fact that in 2005 she voted against a bipartisan bill banning MBTE, a possible carcinogen that was found to possibly be contaminating water supplies?

15. Monsanto
Monsanto, biotech giant and manufacturer of chemical pesticide Roundup, is considered by many to be one of the most evil corporations in the world. Roundup and its use on crops has been purportedly linked to a number of chronic health issues including cancer, birth defects, heart disease, and celiac disease. Monsanto and the industry has pumped millions of dollars into the fight against proper labeling and the public’s right to know whether or not their food contains GMOs. Clinton has a number of ties to the organization. Her campaign manager, Jerry Crawford, is a former Monsanto lobbyist. Additionally, Monsanto has donated moneyto the Clinton Foundation as well as bundled money for her current campaign. Lobbyist obstruction is largely the reason why we haven’t studied the full effects of GMO crops or how they affect the livestock that eat them. GMOs are indeed a complex issue, but how are we to trust that she will always defend our right to information? Her campaign has assured that she will, but how are we to feel knowing that Monsanto has such close ties to her campaign - that they will already have a seat at the table? By simply taking Clinton’s word? How are we to trust that she’ll always champion policies with our interests in mind instead of practices that are potentially toxic to our food supplies?

When footage of LaQuan McDonald first broke, asked whether she still had confidence in Emanuel, Clinton said: “I do. He loves Chicago and I’m confident that he’s going to do everything he can to get to the bottom of these issues and take whatever measures are necessary to remedy them.”

17. The TPP
For years as Secretary of State, Clinton traveled around the world pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the biggest-ever free trade agreement that would replace NAFTA, describing it as “exciting,” “innovative,” “ambitious,” “groundbreaking,” “cutting-edge,” and the “gold standard”. In October of 2015, she flipped to a different tuneand publicly opposed the deal (Sanders had opposed the TPP from the start), which has the potential to continue to protect the interest of multi-national corporations at the expense of workers, consumers, and the environment. How do we trust that Clinton’s actions will always have our best interests at stake? If Sanders hadn’t pulled Clinton to the left on TPP, would she still be pushing it? When browsing the Clinton Foundation donor page, what are we to make of the many multinational corporations who have donated millions of dollars? Time after time, it seems, she’s voted for profits over people.

18. The Death Penalty
In good conscience, how can you vote for a candidate who continues to support the death penalty? Ricky Jackson, an exonerated man who was on death row for 39 years, recently shared a powerful op-ed on capital punishment that’s worth having a read.

19. Minimum Wage
Since the start of his campaign, Sanders has called for a national $15 minimum wage. He’s stood with protesters, acted as a strong vocal advocate, and even introduced new legislation into the Senate. And while Clinton cites $12 as the magic number, the New York Times has backed $15 as well. Why should we strive for less? Because someone has told us it’s unrealistic? How are we to trust a candidate who wants us to settle for less before even trying? To give up before even being able to bargain for what we want? Is that what it means to be a leader? When has small thinking or cynicism served the world or brought about significant social progress? And when New York passes a $15 minimum wage, how are we to feel when Hillary Clinton showed up for the trophy ceremony to take credit?

20. Single Payer, Marijuana and Pharmaceutical Ties
Back in the 90s, Clinton campaigned hard for universal healthcare. And yet, in 2016, she’s decided that we should continue Obamacare and give up trying for single-payer despite over 50% of America supporting it. Almost every developed nation around the world has implemented it - so why is it suddenly unrealistic for us? It’s not a radical idea. We’ve just yet to catch up to the rest of the developed world. Even if it’s not easy, why are we giving up before trying? Together, we can’t.Recently, Clinton was caught in a lie during a campaign speech, challenging Sanders on where he was when she was trying to pass universal healthcare in the 90s. He was right behind her (she thanked him in her speech) - and he continues to push for it to this day. Again, this flip only raises eyebrows and contributes to the public’s mistrust. Is it a coincidence that pharmaceutical companies are major donors?

We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

First, there was the debate schedule. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the Democratic National Committee, reduced the number of scheduled debates from twenty-six in 2008 to just six this year. Four of these dates were on weekends including the Saturday before Christmas, the Saturday night of a New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys NFL game, and the Sunday night of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend - days when viewership would be a challenge. Many voters and critics, including Martin O’Malley and Sanders, spoke out and petitioned against what so many saw as a blatant effort for the party to reduce risk and exposure for Clinton. The DNC stiff-armed the call for more debates. However, only when Clinton was slipping in the polls leading up to New Hampshire and Iowa did she chime in and request more debates. The party obliged and Sanders asked for three more (the last one she tried to dodge). But why limit that number to just six in the first place? If you wanted to present your party’s case to the American people, why wouldn’t you include more dates and maximize your audience?

Then there’s the superdelegate system. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has defended the system saying: “Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists.” What does this say? It tells us that the DNC is not interested in people organizing at a community level - no matter the cause or number of people involved. The will of the people doesn’t need to be honored. Isn’t our government to be for the people by the people? Howard Dean, presidential candidate turned “non-lobbyist“ tweeted “Super delegates don’t “represent people” I’m not elected by anyone. I’ll do what I think is right for the country.” While many superdelegates may switch later on at the convention as they did in 2008, what are we to make of the many elected officials who are blatantly disregarding their own constituents’ will?

-In Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populated county of four million and fourth most populous in the United States, voters waited in lines up to five hours to cast a ballot. This discouraged thousands from waiting in line and voting, including and especially elderly, those with kids, and the working class.

-Maricopa reduced the number of polling stations by 70% since the last presidential election: from 200 in 2012 to just 60 this year. That’s 20,000 voters for every polling station.

Voter suppression and manipulation is real and is something we all should be alarmed about. There are reports of fishy activities in other states, including Illinois late voter suppression, exit poll discrepancies, and stations running out of ballots. There are also reports and anecdotal evidence of registered voters having their party affiliations changed in California, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. For years these fishy issues have occurred regularly, but this time it’s on a scale large enough for people to take notice.

But what says even more is the DNC’s silence following the issue. Are they interested in protecting our democracy? Is the Democratic party interested in democracy? At what point do we continue to allow this to happen? The testimonies that citizens shared at the Arizona hearing are worth listening to, especially this one and this one.

23. #WhichHillary
Right before the South Carolina primary, Clinton held a fundraising event at a private residence. Attendee and Black Lives Matter protester Ashley Williams interrupted Clinton’s speech as a call for Clinton to acknowledge and apologize for her role in mass incarceration, as well her “super predator” and “bring them to heel” comments. Security escorted her out of the event. In the video, many found Clinton’s tone to be dismissive, especially in contrast to how Sanders handled a similar situation in Seattle in which two Black Lives Matter protesters stormed the stage. Some justify Clinton’s response believing the interruption to be rude and an inappropriate time. But that is precisely the privileged stances that have allowed black people to continue to be murdered and disproportionately incarcerated at the hands of an unjust government and judicial system that does not value their lives. That is a bigger inconvenience. What are we to make of this video, especially when just days earlier Clinton gave a speech in Harlem where she said:

“White Americans need to do a better job at listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers they face every day. Practice humility rather than assume that our experience is everyone’s experiences.”

Soon after footage of Williams hit the Internet, Twitter and social media erupted with the hashtag #WhichHillary, which attacked Clinton’s record and became the #1 trending topic. How would you feel being told that you need to support this candidate?

Yet the majority of America can’t possibly all be right-wing conspiracists, right? Nor are they uninformed or just buying into decades Republican-launched attacks. Consider that it’s because Clinton has a long history of using dirty campaign tactics, changing her stances, and altering her rhetoric to garner a vote.

25. The strongest candidate?
If there’s one thing we can agree upon, it’s that the 2016 race has been filled with the unexpected. Imagine for a moment that Donald Trump doesn’t become the nominee and that the Republicans broker their convention with Cruz, Kasich or even a Paul Ryan for kicks. Who is the bigger gamble for avoiding a Republican presidency: Clinton or Sanders? According to the polls, who is the most electable candidate in the entire race?

26. What progressive record?
Given these votes, policies, and positions, when has Clinton demonstrated herself to be a progressive? How do you remedy that her most recent flips all occurred right before she announced her candidacy? In a 1994 NPR interview, Clinton has also stated that she was proud of her conservative roots as a Goldwater girl, a Presidential candidate who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What are we to make of this?

27. What would her platform be?
Ask yourself honestly: what would Clinton’s platform be had Sanders not pulled her to the left? Would we be having a conversation on income inequality, campaign finance reform, or corporate greed? Why didn’t she take the lead on these issues? Would we be talking about breaking up the big banks given Clinton’s long standing ties to Wall St.? What do you make of the fact that the debate topics we’re discussing are the same topics that Sanders has spoken out against since the beginning?

—-

I recognize that there are many complexities to these issues. That politicians must make tough decisions.

Do I think she’s demonstrated that she’s done everything in her power to fight for all Americans?
No.

Do I think Sanders will?
Yes.

Do I acknowledge that the decisions Clinton made were within the confines of our existing political system?
Yes.

Do I accept this system as the way we must move forward?
Absolutely not.

Ask yourself these questions and ask #WhichHillary we will be getting should she win the nomination. These questions travel beyond Clinton’s candidacy and to challenging a system that continues to stifle progress for the average American. At what point do we stand up to our media and stop allowing them to push their own corporate agenda? At what point do we stand up to voter suppression and the system’s blatant disregard for a legitimized democratic process? At what point do we stop giving away our political power out of fear? If not now, when? Ask yourself: which side of the Democratic party is holding the other hostage by asking us to rally behind a disliked candidate, especially given Sanders’ double digit defeats against Trump et al?

I’d ask everyone to look at her record honestly, objectively and ask yourself if Hillary Clinton is our best bet. I’m not quite so sure.

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